Labor economy

In this Monday, March 2, 2020, photo, a worker wearing a mask works at a factory producing bicycle wheel rims in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Factories in China that make the world's smartphones, toys and other consumer goods are trying to protect their employees from a virus outbreak as they resume production. Manufacturers are buying masks by the thousands and jugs of disinfectant. The ruling Communist Party has told local officials to help reopen factories that were idled by the most intensive anti-disease controls ever imposed. (Chinatopix Via AP)

BEIJING (AP) — To keep his 40 employees indoors and away from China’s virus outbreak, the manager of an electronics factory in Dongguan, near Hong Kong, says he hired a cook and arranged dormitories for them. Cjtouch Electronic Co., which makes smartphone touch screens, is one of thousands of...

Travelers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport wear masks Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in SeaTac, Wash. Six of the 18 Western Washington residents with the coronavirus have died as health officials rush to test more suspected cases and communities brace for spread of the disease. All confirmed cases of the virus in Washington are in Snohomish and King counties. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

ALTERED EXPECTATIONS: General Electric Co. General Electric believes the viral outbreak could have a negative impact of about $300 million to $500 million on its first-quarter industrial free cash flow. Operating profit for the period could be hurt by about $200 million to $300 million. GE said...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Services companies grew at a faster pace in February than the previous month, an indication that the economy was still expanding immediately after the first cases of the coronavirus were reported in the U.S. The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday that its service-...

In this Jan. 29, 2020, photo, chef Samara Henderson, left, works with trainee Anthony Redmond at Inspiration Kitchens in Chicago. Redmond, 44, started receiving food stamps when he was released from prison last summer. With the help, he was able to leave a halfway house and find his own place. After the training, he hopes to find employment and keep his benefits. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses added 183,000 jobs last month, a solid gain that shows the economy was largely healthy when the coronavirus outbreak spread further around the globe. Large companies added roughly two-thirds of the jobs, while hiring among smaller firms was relatively weak...

Travelers Meredith Ponder, left, and Coleby Hanisch, both of Des Moines, Iowa, wear masks to remind them not to touch their faces as they ride a train at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in SeaTac, Wash. Six of the 18 Western Washington residents with the coronavirus have died as health officials rush to test more suspected cases and communities brace for spread of the disease. All confirmed cases of the virus in Washington are in Snohomish and King counties. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

PARIS (AP) — The coronavirus epidemic shifted increasingly westward toward the Middle East, Europe and the United States on Tuesday, with governments taking emergency steps to ease shortages of masks and other supplies for front-line doctors and nurses. “We are concerned that countries' abilities...

South Korean soldiers wearing protective gears walk to spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 3, 2020. China's coronavirus caseload continued to wane Tuesday even as the epidemic took a firmer hold beyond Asia. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

BEIJING (AP) — The Latest on the virus outbreak (all times local): 1 a.m. Wednesday WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wants the world to stop hoarding masks, gloves and other protective equipment. The head of the U.N. health agency says Tuesday that he's concerned that the new...

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2019, file photo, a man walks past the Reserve Bank of Australia in Sydney. Australia’s central bank on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a record low of 0.5% in response to the economic shock of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s central bank on Tuesday cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a record low of 0.5% in response to the economic shock of the new coronavirus. The reduction at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monthly meeting is the first since...

Workers wearing protective gears spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Japan's schools prepared to close for almost a month and entertainers, topped by K-pop superstars BTS, canceled events as a virus epidemic extended its spread through Asia into Europe and on Friday, into sub-Saharan Africa. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

NEW YORK (AP) — The coronavirus outbreak began to look more like a worldwide economic crisis Friday as anxiety about the infection emptied shops and amusement parks, canceled events, cut trade and travel and dragged already slumping financial markets even lower. More employers told their workers to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans pulled back on their spending in January, even as their incomes surged, a sign the economy was growing modestly before the threat of coronavirus arose. The Commerce Department said Friday that consumer spending increased 0.2% last month, down from 0.4% in December and...

In this Feb. 17, 2020, file photo released by Xinhua News Agency, workers assemble Audi A6 L cars at a workshop of FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd. in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province.Factories that make the world's smartphones, toys and other goods are struggling to reopen after a virus outbreak idled China's economy. But even with the ruling Communist Party promising help, companies and economists say it may be months before production is back to normal. (Zhang Nan/Xinhua via AP, File)

BEIJING (AP) — Factories that make the world’s smartphones, toys and other goods are struggling to reopen after a virus outbreak idled China’s economy. But even with the ruling Communist Party promising help, companies and economists say it may be months before production is back to normal. The...